Cubs News: Ian Happ has arrived as a ‘seasoned veteran’

Chicago Cubs’ centerfielder Ian Happ’s consistent performances at the plate have him looking like a seasoned veteran All-Star while the Cubs reap the benefits.

What a difference a year can make. We’ve all been watching the growth and development of Chicago Cub Ian Happ since he took the field in 2017. That was the year of sluggish play by a Cubs team that had just won the World Series.

Here comes this young, blond-haired, utility player, drafted out of the University of Cincinnati and starts out with 92 hits, 24 home runs, 17 doubles and 68 RBIs in his first major’s outing! Fans and teammates were blown away.

In 2018, Happ’s BA dropped as those hits and RBI’s and homers all started to dwindle, and in 2019 Happ was sent down to Triple-A, where he took the time to work on his swing and approach at the plate. Happ knew he had all the ability pieces of the pie; he just needed to do a little re-arranging.

Happ also took the time since his hiatus in 2019 and COVID-break to dig into his craft in a more modern way: he played baseball video games. Old-timers like me are hesitant to credit Playstation with making better ballplayers. Still, more and more younger players are seeing the game with new eyes and credit the subtle nuances of the video game for improving hand-eye coordination.

So what a difference a year can make as now the Cubs are singing a new song and getting, well you guessed it, ‘Happ-y.’